Aleesha Simoncini’s Presentation at the 2026 Animal Rights Forum in Sydney
In February, the Manager and Research and Events Coordinator of the Centre for Law as Protection Manager, Aleesha, presented at the 2026 Animal Rights Forum in Sydney, on ‘A Roadmap Towards a Kinder Future for Cows, Other Animals, People, and the Planet’.
For the last 3 and a half years, Aleesha has been an animal enrichment volunteer at farmed animal sanctuary, Edgar’s Mission, and more recently she has been a tour guide at the sanctuary. Aleesha has been dedicating her animal law work to the cows she volunteers with but especially for the cows who will never be as lucky and won’t have the chance to be rescued. For the last year, Aleesha has been working alongside Associate Professor Jane Kotzmann and Associate Lecturer Morgan Stonebridge on the transition out of dairy and it is exciting to see this work unfold.
Aleesha’s Animal Rights Forum presentation provided a practical and legal roadmap for transitioning towards a kinder future by working together with communities, farmers, lawyers, policy makers, scientists, conservationists and everyday consumers.
The presentation looked at the issues and laws surrounding dairy cows, the impacts on the planet, human rights and human health. It explored law reform opportunities, including banning misleading labelling of “happy cows” and suggested transition pathways to support farmers towards different types of agriculture, precision fermentation, rewilding or new careers. Aleesha also highlighted the roles of sanctuaries and storytelling as tools for change and drew on my learnings from her animal law training from Antwerp Summer & Winter University and Oxford, by exploring how Australia can learn from other countries but also take the lead.
Aleesha also wants to say a very special thank you to the cows she volunteers with at Edgar’s Mission for reinforcing her passion every single shift to make this world a better place for animals.